Reed-organ



(No Model.)

B. S. VOTEY.

- REED ORGAN.

No. 374,721. Patented Dec. 13, 1887,.

WITNESSES IJV'VEJVTOR .dttorney UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE,

EDWIN S. VOTEY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

REED-ORGAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 374,721, dated December 13, 1887.

Application filedJnly 5, 1857. Serial No. 243,4!0, (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN S. VOIEY, of Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Reed-0rgans; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the.

art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a certain new and useful improvement in organs, as more fully hereinafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical crossseetion of a reed-organ embodying my invention. Fig. 2 illustrates in separate views the fastening device.

The special feature of my invention consists in the novel construction of the foundationboard and related parts of an organ, and which I carry out as follows:

A represents an organ-case.

A is the organ-front, the whole of which I prefer to make removable. Heretofore the upper part of the organ-front, and to which the grand organ and knee-swell have been attached, has very commonly been made permanent, the front below the same being removable. I design, however, to construct the entire organ-front with the grand organ and knee-swell, so as to be readily removed, as by a pin-and-dowel fastening, a, at the base andv any suitable fastening, a, at the top.

B is the front rail of the organ-action.

0 represents any organ-action, the particular construction of which forms no feature of my present invention.

D is the foundation-board.

E is the air-chamber, and E the valves controlling the admission of air to the reeds.

Heretofore great difficulty has been experienced in getting access to these valves and related parts should they get out of order, and it is the special purpose of my invention to overcome this difficulty, so that it need not re quire an expert to clean the valve of any foreign substance or to make some needed adjustment of parts should they get misplaced.

I accomplish my purpose by dividing the foundation-board longitudinally thereof and hinging the front portion, 07, to the rear portion, d, in any suitable manner, so that the front may be dropped to get at the valves in a ready and convenient manner. The front portion of the foundation'board thus constitutes a leaf hinged at its rear edge to the portion (2.

I do not limit myself to any manner of hinging the two together, but find it very convenient to tongue and groove the adjacent edges of thelcaf and rear portion of the foundation-board, and to engage the same by hinges d with or without'a strip of felt or other fabric; but a strip of felt or fabric, (1, is preferably secured upon the upper edge above the groovein the rear part of the foundation-board, to serve as a cushion. The front of the leaf closes against the front rail, B, of the action, to which it may be held in place by any desired fastening, f. A very suitable method of fastening the same is by means of an angular-headed screw, f, or screw-lock engaged in the front rail, B, the leaf being grooved, as shown at f to ride over the screw f when the latter is properly adjusted, the screw-head being turned under the foundation board or leaf, so as to support the same. The advantage of a screw for this purpose is in the fact that the screw may be readily adjusted to tighten the engagement of the leaf upon the rail, while at the same time it affords a very simple fastening.

lVith an organ provided with my improved foundation-board access to the valves is rendered easy. The organ may be laid upon its back, the front board, with its attachments, removed, when the leaf may be dropped and the necessary adjustment or cleansing of the valve be quickly accomplished without employiug a skilled workman to give the matter attention.

WVhile the feature of providing a hinged or removable leaf in the foundation-board opposite the valves is always desirable, whether the action be a horizontal action or a Vertical action, it is especially desirablein organs'provided with a horizontal action, because in or- I gaus of this character the space beneath the foundation-board is occupied by the organfront and the pedal mechanism, so that the removal of the board itself becomes practically impossible. Heretofore in organs with a hori-' zontal action access to the valve has been possible only by first removing all the mechanism of the organ which is situated above the valves. By my invention, however, the valves in an organ provided with the horizontal action may be readily exposed by dropping the leaf, and without disturbing any of the other parts. So, also, in an organ with a vertical action my invention enables any unskilled person to at once expose the valves by dropping or removing the removable leaf, whereas it would involve considerable trouble and annoyance to be compelled each time to remove a considerable number of fastening-screws in order to take off the entire foundation-board in this class of organs. This is especially true Where the leaf is simply fastened by a screw, hook, or other similar expedient, which may serve to release the removable lid and permit it to be opened instantly in case of emergency.

The feature of the removable front is especially valuable, also, in a horizontal-action organ provided with my removable front leaf, because, having laid the organ on its back and having removed the leaf of the foundationboard to gain access to its valves, the organfront with its kneeboards would be in the way of theoperator, and would interfere with the dropping of the front leaf, and also liable to become marred; but by removing the same the operator can proceed to adjust the valve mechanism with greater freedom and ability.

What I claim is- 1. In an organ, a foundation-board constructed with a leaf constituting a part of the foundation-board arranged to be opened, and thereby afford access to the interior, substantially as described.

2. In an organ, a foundation-board con- 0 structed with a hinged leaf constituting a part of the board, and adetachable fastening device to hold the leaf in place, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a horizontal-ac- 45 tion organ provided with a front rail, B, of a foundation-board constructed with a front leaf arranged to be opened to afford access to the interior, and a screw-hook engaged in said rail to support said leaf and tighten it on its seat, said leaf constructed with open orifices or grooves upon its front edge to receive the stem of said hook, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in an organ, of afoundation-board provided with a removable leaf 55 constituting a part of the board, said removable leaf located opposite the valves and secured. in place by detachable fastenings, the construction being such that access may be had to the Valves without removing or disturbing the fastenings of the foundation-board, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination, with a horizontal-action organ, of a foundation-board constructed with a front leaf arranged to be opened and afford access to the interior, and an organfront extending upward to the foundationboard, the entire said front being removable, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Isign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWIN S. VOTEY.

\Vitnesses:

M. B. ODoGHEa'rY, JOHN E. WILES. 

